The still-active account of Miller, a Republican who represented parts of Orange and San Bernardino counties in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is an example of what the Tampa Bay Times calls a “zombie” campaign fund.

“In their political afterlife, former politicians and their staffers are hoarding unspent campaign donations for years and using them to finance their lifestyles, advance new careers and pay family members,” the Times investigation found.

“Their spending makes a mockery of one of the fundamental principles of America’s campaign finance laws: Donations must be spent only on politics, not politicians’ personal lives.”

While federal law forbids the use of campaign dollars for personal expenses, in many cases, the zombie spending goes to charity or to active political candidates and causes.

Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside (File photo).

But Rep. Mark Takano, D-Riverside, is concerned that zombie accounts could be used to boost a former politician’s job prospects.

“That’s not something that the donors intended the money to be used for and it’s not something their former constituents might appreciate either,” Takano said. “The money you raised isn’t completely yours. It wasn’t meant … to be used for your lobbying practice afterward.”

To slay zombie accounts, Takano is sponsoring the “Let It Go” Act, which would require federal office holders and candidates to get rid of unspent campaign funds within six years of leaving office or running for election.

Introduced last March, the bill has yet to get out of the House administration committee. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Florida, signed on as a co-sponsor and the bill has the support of Rep. Gus Bilirakis, R-Florida, “so we’re optimistic that the legislation will continue picking up bipartisan support,” Takano spokesman Josh Weisz said.

Southern California zombie funds

Former Southern California lawmakers with zombie accounts include Miller; Henry Waxman, a Democrat who represented part of Los Angeles and nearby cities for 30 years; Democrat and current Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis and Republican Howard “Buck” McKeon, who represented parts of L.A. and San Bernardino counties for more than two decades.

The Miller campaign’s payments to Cathleen Miller since 2015 fall under the headings of “payroll” and “salaries.” The payments don’t list Cathleen Miller’s connection to Gary Miller, though his wife’s name is Cathy and it’s not uncommon for candidates’ relatives to have formal campaign roles.

Gary Miller decided in 2014 not to seek re-election. Democrats made him a top target with his district having more Democratic than GOP voters.

Since 2015, his campaign has paid more than $51,000 in federal taxes and spent more than $41,000 on rent and more than $60,000 on credit card payments.

Other recipients of Miller’s campaign money since he left office include, among others, Calvary Chapel Chino Hills, which got $20,000; the National Republican Congressional Committee, which received $5,000; Assemblyman Marc Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga, whose campaign got $3,500 and the Wounded Warrior Project, which received $1,000.

Miller did not respond to phone messages at his office seeking comment.

Former California Rep. Henry Waxman (AP file photo).

Waxman, who chaired the House energy and oversight committees, served in Congress from 1975 to January 2015. In 2016, his campaign spent $100,000 on Vanguard Charitable, a nonprofit grant-making organization.

The U.S. Capitol Historical Society got $47,070 from Waxman’s campaign in 2015. His campaign also gave money Democratic U.S. senators Bill Nelson of Florida, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan after Waxman left office.

Waxman is listed as the recipient of more than $78,000 in campaign spending since 2015. In a telephone interview, Waxman, who now heads a Washington, D.C. lobbying firm, said that money was reimbursement for donations he made from personal funds to charities and candidates.

“The reason I’ve done that is because I don’t want the campaign committee to write a bunch of small checks,” he said. “I charged donations to my credit card or I write my own check for them and the campaign reimburses me.”

Waxman said he sent his donors a letter offering to return their contributions when he decided not to seek re-election.

“I don’t know why it looks bad particularly to have a campaign committee open,” he said, adding he has no plans to run for public office.

Waxman said he’ll keep spending the money in his account until it’s gone.

Solis, McKeon

Solis left Congress to become President Barack Obama’s labor secretary in 2009. Since then, her congressional campaign account gave $4,000 to Obama’s campaign, $3,000 to Hillary Clinton’s campaign and $1,000 or more to Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, Assemblywoman Eloise Reyes, D-Grand Terrace and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, among other Democrats.

The account also paid $224 for a staff dinner meeting at a Minnesota steakhouse in September 2015.

“Supervisor Solis, who served in Congress for eight years, has not raised contributions into that congressional campaign committee for years, since 2008,” Solis campaign spokesman Steve Barkan said in an emailed statement. “She makes civic contributions to nonprofit organizations and campaign contributions from that account, as she is permitted to under the law.”

Since McKeon left Congress at the start of 2015, his campaign has given $7,000 to the GOP’s congressional committee, $2,000 to Rep. Ed Royce, R-Yorba Linda and $2,000 each to Wyoming Republican congressional candidate Liz Cheney, Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, among other donations.

The campaign also spent almost $20,000 on moving expenses and almost $15,000 on payroll in 2015, more than $1,300 on airline tickets in March 2015 and more than $1,400 in car rental expenses in May 2015. McKeon, who now heads a Virginia-based lobbying firm, did not respond to a request for comment.

Jeff Horseman got into journalism because he liked to write and stunk at math. He grew up in Vermont and he honed his interviewing skills as a supermarket cashier by asking Bernie Sanders “Paper or plastic?” After graduating from Syracuse University in 1999, Jeff began his journalistic odyssey at The Watertown Daily Times in upstate New York, where he impressed then-U.S. Senate candidate Hillary Clinton so much she called him “John” at the end of an interview. From there, he went to Annapolis, Maryland, where he covered city, county and state government at The Capital newspaper before love and the quest for snowless winters took him in 2007 to Southern California, where he started out covering Temecula for The Press-Enterprise. Today, Jeff writes about Riverside County government and regional politics. Along the way, Jeff has covered wildfires, a tropical storm, 9/11 and the Dec. 2 terror attack in San Bernardino. If you have a question or story idea about politics or the inner workings of government, please let Jeff know. He’ll do his best to answer, even if it involves a little math.